It is currently estimated that approximately 3 million U.S. citizens have diminished mobility that requires the use of mobility aids such as walkers or wheelchairs in their daily life. Many have lost mobility due to age, while many are mobility-challenged due to accident, injury, or illness. Statistics show that the number of people requiring mobility aids will continue to increase due both to an aging population and to a growing number of those impaired as a result of accident, injury, or illness.
On the other hand, commercial air travel has experienced consistent growth over the past 20 years, and mobility-challenged individuals have and will continue to be a part of that trend. The net result is that there is a large and growing population base of air travelers that are mobility-challenged. This has created a new set of challenges for airlines as they seek to enable air travel for those customers.
At the same time, there have been few advancements in the technology used to move a passenger through an airport, down a jet way, and into a seat on a plane. The vast majority of technology in use today has been available for many years. Manual wheelchairs (also called “transport wheelchairs”) are used to move passengers from arrival through the terminal to their departure gate. One common transport wheelchair used by many airports for transport through the airport is called a “Staxi” chair. Regardless, transport wheelchairs require a transfer at the departure gate to a traditional, known “aisle chair,” which is a wheeled chair that has been designed to be narrow enough to fit in the aisle of an airplane. The typical aisle width is 17 to 20 inches, but in some cases can be as narrow as 16 inches. These standard aisle chairs have four fixed wheels that require the user to tip the chair to turn it in the narrow entrance to the plane.
These existing aisle chairs require that the airline team use substantial physical effort to first lift the passenger and then move them laterally into their seat on the plane. This is typically accomplished with one airline team member reaching over the back of the aisle chair to “bear hug” the passenger while another airline team member lifts at the passenger's knees to try and help move them laterally. Given the narrow aisle, the narrow space between plane seats, and the height of the plane seat back, the process of a physical lift and a lateral move poses significant risk of injury to the passenger and the airline team member. In addition, the passenger experience is less than dignified. These challenges are exacerbated by the rapidly increasing average weight of the population and, as a result, airline passengers.
At the same time that the logistics of mobility challenged passenger movement and transfers are becoming more frequent, more challenging, and more time consuming, the average age of the workforce is rising, thereby increasing the risk of injury to airline team members. As we age, it is very well documented that our ability to safely lift or move loads decreases in weight and frequency. That means that the average airline worker cannot safely increase the weight or frequency of what they are being asked to move. This is compounded by the fact that there is now an increasing number of mobility challenged passengers that weigh more.
The result is a situation that has significant potential to negatively impact passenger safety, airline employee safety, turn time efficiency and passenger dignity.
There is a need in the art for improved motorized wheelchair systems for transport and transfer of aircraft passengers.